Trisha Elric, the Fallen Woman
by GBlackwell
Summary: Urey Rockbell hasn't seen his friend Trisha in seven years, so he's up for a surprise when he walks up the hill to give the new family in Resembool a welcome. A story about Trisha and what she might have dealt with as an unwed mother. T for language.


**I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I don't even own a copy of the manga or the anime, much less the rights to the work.**

**This story focuses on the relationship between Urey Rockbell and Trisha Elric, considering the social taboo against women who had children without being married. Pairings, obviously, are TrishaxHohenheim and UreyxSara, with the focus being on friendly TrishaxUrey.**

**My goal was to portray Trisha as a stronger woman than you normally see. She would have had to had a strong will to follow her heart against the norms of society. You see her soft side in the series, but that is when she's around her one true love and her children. She probably had a firmer, more determined part of her as well.**

**I know this story will probably not be popular, since these two characters are some of the least-known, and definitely not anyone's favorites. Hope you enjoy, anyway.**

* * *

**The Fallen Woman?**

She was his childhood friend, his partner-in-crime, his sister who wasn't his sister.

Back in the days when he was an arrogant little kid, always bragging about how he would be a hero and a doctor, she was always by his side.

When they told scary stories about the tattooed lady as children, she was right there shivering with him. When he had told the funny story about Momma Pinako when he put whiskey in her coffee, she laughed with him.

When he had thrown stones at the house of the old "fallen woman," though, that's the only time she was confused. But then, he explained that the old lady deserved it 'cuz she was a whore and had had kids without getting married, she had nodded, and let him do it.

In every cruel or kind act of his, she was there.

She was the girl with no secrets, a pure soul without sin, and yet one of determined passion. She was the girl with whom he could share anything.

Or at least, she had been.

* * *

He had heard stories about the couple living in the cottage on the hill, of course. Everyone in Resembool had heard or told stories about them. The more interesting ones said something about a yellow-eyed vampire and his ghostly pale consort, not to mention their demonic children. And he had laughed at those stories and agreed to a dare to go and see for himself what kind of abominable family had been settled in Resembool for three years without making contact with any of the other inhabitants of the town.

So he went, telling his wife Sarah about the bet. She laughed and told him to go ahead, just to be back in time for supper. He kissed his daughter, Winry, on her golden hair, and left in a cheery, daring mood.

Honestly, he wasn't expecting anything supernatural. He just decided that a greeting for the new family was long overdue. Resembool normally didn't deal with newcomers, and so normally the people would wait until meeting the new family at the market or some neutral area like that before going to the person's house. However, they hadn't seen the people from this family around at all. In addition, there were rumors that the house appeared overnight in a flash of lightning, so many were hesitant about confronting the family

Urey would have greeted them himself, but he had been traveling to other towns treating his patients, and so had just found himself too busy and exhausted to make the trip. Today, though, he decided this had gone on long enough. He would welcome the newcomers into the Resembool society.

When he arrived at the house, he saw nothing that shocked him. There were indeed two children playing in the yard; both had a very bright color of blond hair, so they were presumable brothers. One was jumping around boisterously, while the other waddled clumsily after him with a smile on his face. Upon hearing his footsteps, the loud one snapped his head at him. Urey found himself staring into shockingly bright eyes, the exact color of gold.

WELL so the yellow-eyed part did have some basis. The child's features were unusual. What kind of race was he, anyway? Some odd kind of mix between Xingian and Amestrian?

"Hello, kid," Urey tried, "I…"

"MOOOOOOOOOOMMM! There's a straaaanger!" the golden eyed kid yelled, pointing at him. He then ran over to his brother and stood protectively in front of him, glowering savagely.

Urey was a little taken aback by the kid's response. How old was he, three?

"Listen…" Urey began.

"MOM! MOM! STRANGER!" The other kid called out.

"Don't come any closer," the first boy said, "Or I'll beat you up!"

Urey wasn't sure what to say. This kid was way to you to be even speaking full sentences, much less beating someone up.

He heard some hurried footsteps from inside the house. Before he could respond to the kids' defensive behavior, the front door opened, and a pale, thin figure appeared at the doorway: a woman with chestnut-colored hair and tired green eyes.

"Edward? Alphonse?" she asked, a kind smile spreading on her weary face, "Don't be so rude. Calm down. Now who is this?"

"Stranger," the quieter kid said, sticking his thumb into his mouth.

The woman came went over and picked up both children in her arms. "Now, now," she said, "Let's ask him his name, so then he won't be a stranger, okay?"

"Okay…" the boys said hesitantly.

"Alright, then!" the woman said cheerfully, "So and who might you…" but she trailed off, and her brows furrowed. She turned her head slightly, and eyed him with curiosity.

He felt awkward under her glance, unsure of what to say. All he could wonder is how anyone could mistake this family for some sort of undead coven. The children were unusual-looking, true, but not demonic. This woman did look rather pale and worn as though with some constant worry, but she was definitely human.

She was still looking at him as he thought. Finally, she asked tentatively, "Urey?"

He jumped. How did this woman…?

And then it struck him. The chestnut hair, the kind eyes, the cherubic shape of her lips.

His childhood friend. The girl that he knew he could trust with anything. The orphan he had grown up with. The girl who had disappeared. The girl he thought was dead. "Trisha," he said, dumbly.

Maybe she was a ghost. No, she wasn't. She was Trisha, here in the flesh.

God, what had her looking so awful? The Trisha he had known had been vibrant, passionate, beautiful…

"Urey," she said warmly, "It's been so long."

"Yeah. It has," he agreed.

They stood, staring at each other for a moment. Her lips were slightly parted in surprise. "Why don't you come in?" she asked.

"Sure," he said.

"It's okay, Ed, Al," Trisha reassured the boys (her children?) as she bounced them playfully, "It's an old friend of Mommy's. Now you two keep playing, and Mommy's going to have a word with him inside."

She kissed them both, causing them to giggle, and placed them back down again. They nodded. The darker haired one (Alphonse?) waddled off towards some pretty flower. The other one (Edward?) eyed him suspiciously for moment before looking up lovingly at his mother and asking, "And will you come out soon and play with us, Mommy?"

Again, Urey was shocked at the kid's linguistic ability. The kid couldn't have been a more than two (maybe three, if he was little for his age, but even then this would be a stretch), and yet he was speaking full, grammatically correct sentences with perfect pronunciation. He sounded more like a six-year-old.

"Of course, dear," Trisha said, patting him on the head, "Now go play with your brother."

The kid nodded and ran off.

They stood staring at each other for a minute before Trisha said, "Well, come on," and walked toward the house. He followed her inside.

It was a decent, comfortable place. At her behest, he sat down in the living room while she went to get him some water. He stared awkwardly at a painting on the wall.

Trisha came in; she handed him a glass of water and he gulped it down, as though he could somehow swallow down his shock and dizziness.

"How have you been, Urey?" she asked gently.

He finished gulping. "Fine, fine," he said. "Everything's been well. But… Trisha, where have you been? What happened? It's been… God, it's been seven years since I saw you."

"I am sorry," she said, her face definitely showing that she was just that.

"I started to think you were dead! I thought that… why didn't you let us know that you were at least alive?"

She looked down. "It was impossible. I…I am sorry."

He would have her clarify that later. "Well, I'm glad you're here now," he said, trying to be friendly despite being shocked and… well, hurt. Yes, he was hurt that his childhood friend had left and not contacted him. But he shoved that feeling down his throat with another gulp of water. "You moved here three years ago? When this house was built supposedly overnight?"

Trisha admitted, "Yes."

"And you never bothered to come and visit?"

She looked down again.

He refused to ask why. Instead, he said, "Well, like I said, I'm glad you're here now, Trisha." He looked at the pictures on the wall. "Well," he said with a smile, "I guess it's not Trisha 'Elric' anymore, huh?"

Her mouth twitched into what might have been a smile.

"Who's the lucky father of those boys?" he asked, playfully.

"His name is Van Hohenheim."

"Van Hohenheim…huh, sounds fancy. So, 'Mrs. Hohenheim' then, huh?"

He saw her jaw clench as she looked down again. Then, she looked up at him, her eyes calm and unwavering. "Urey," she said, still gentle but with a note of the passion and steel he remembered from her voice so long ago, "I need to tell you right now why I haven't bothered to see you."

His eyes widened. Wow, he hadn't expected to get to the point this quickly.

"It's not 'Trisha Hohenheim,'" she said.

There was a pause. So, she wasn't married? Then…

Oh, of course! Those boys didn't look like her at all. He had just assumed… they did call her 'Mom' but perhaps they just used the title because she, as a caretaker, had replaced the Mom they had lost, or had never known… It was understandable for children their age. "Oh, I'm sorry!" he said, "I assumed you were married."

"I'm not married to him," she stated simply.

"Oh, okay. Well, so…" he said, "You're taking care of this guy's kids, then?"

"Of course."

"He's not here… he's gone right now. You're taking care of them while he's away. I see. Is he a good friend? Someone you met while you were… gone?"

"I met him here in Resembool, actually," she said quietly, "He was rather distant, but an old friend of Pinako's, your mom, that is. I only got to meet him by chance. He tried not to let himself be seen very often."

"Huh. So he helped you out when you were gone. I see. Returning the favor. Well, they seem like good kids. Their mother's… gone?"

Trisha sighed, "Urey, you don't understand."

"What?" he asked.

She leaned forward, and said in complete calmness, "I am their mother."

Urey's brain stopped for a moment. Then, after a few long seconds, the gears were turning. Not married. Children.

No. Just…

Trisha? Trisha was an unwed mother?

He thought of the "old whore" back when they were kids, whose house he used to throw rocks at. Trisha, at the young age of eight, had known and accepted his views about such women back then, so…

"No, you… you're joking, right? Is this another one of your pranks? Because, right after we've been reunited is not the best time."

"I am not joking."

Again, his brain stopped working, and then he asked in a hoarse voice, "He…forced you?"

"No, Urey," she sighed.

"Trisha, that's… not…"

It was wrong. It was a sin. He had always felt that way about those kind of women, that they were stupid and disgusting. They were whores.

But Trisha… Trisha couldn't be a whore.

She saw the lost look on his face, and said, "Urey, it's this simple. I love Hoenheim. He loves me. However, we cannot get married for reasons I will not discuss. We are married in all ways but law."

He was stunned into silence.

She looked at him, "I can understand if you don't want me to come near your family again. You have always had such strong beliefs about this particular…sin, as I know you would define it." Her jaw hardened in that resolved way that he remembered, "And I remember what you believe about the children of unions such as ours. But I have no right to judge you for those…things that you said about such people, because I never disagreed with you at the time.

She continued, "I deserve every possible insult you could fling at me. Everything that you said about that unfortunate woman that the townspeople used to torment, I deserve tenfold. Because I didn't stand up for her."

"No…"

"I realize that I have been cowardly, not coming and telling you upfront. Waiting here. I had decided to not try to contact you or your family, since I knew what your ultimate conclusion would be. Pinako knew about my return here, but decided to stay quiet at my request."

"You're…"

"A coward and a hypocrite. I realize this," she said, her voice steely, "Whatever you have to say, say it now."

He took a breath, "Why? How could you? I don't understand."

"I love him. I know you will see that as an excuse. But he has proven himself. He is noble, trustworthy, a good husband."

"Husband?" Urey asked, feeling the harsh tone sink into his voice, "Noble? What kind of noble, trustworthy man refuses to marry the woman he supposedly loves?"

She stiffened, but said, "I knew you would respond like this. As I said, we cannot marry because... because of his situation."

"You won't discuss them? It's some sort of family matter, isn't it. What, is he some sort of blueblood who doesn't want to lower himself with a marriage to a commoner? Or is he married already?"

"It's… I can't discuss it. It's too complicated."

"Complicated? Complicated? The bastard doesn't want to marry you! He just wants you for sex! I've seen it a dozen times, always with the cheapest, dumbest women. He loves you? Then when he comes back today, get a decent answer!"

She gulped, almost invisibly, "He won't be back for a while."

"What?"

"… A few years, at least."

Urey let this sink in. "He left you."

"No! He just has…business to…take…care of."

Urey murmured, "He left you… you sacrificed your dignity and self-respect to this guy, and he ditches?"

Trisha's eyes flashed, and her fists clenched, "I gave up my dignity to no one, Urey Rockbell! Love does not require the sacrifice of one's self-respect! And furthermore," she said, lowering her voice back to her calm tone, "He will return. Someday."

"That exactly what the old whore said every day, back when we were still kids."

Trisha stood up, her voice icy, "That old whore was my mother."

Urey's jaw dropped.

"It turns out my parents weren't dead. My father left and my mother relinquished custody of me to my relatives. When they…were less than kind to me, I ended up staying with you and Pinako. Elric was her real last name; the other was an alias she had adopted in her profession."

He stood up and said, "Then you're just repeating what she did! He's not coming back, Trisha. I know this type!"

"He wouldn't abandon his wife and children."

"Yes he would! These men don't care about cheap women they find by the wayside, or the children they produce!"

Urey regretted it the minute he said it. He hadn't meant it like that. Trisha wasn't cheap. No, he was talking about all of the other women. Trisha was just… loving, and too pure to…

But his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden whimper from the corner. He snapped his head around and saw one of Trisha's sons staring at them in the doorway, his eyes wide.

"Edward," Trisha said softy, surprised at her little boy's presence.

Urey's heart sank in his chest when he saw the hurt look in those large, innocent eyes.

"Edward, how much of our conversation did you hear?" Trisha asked urgently.

Edward didn't respond, except for a choked noise that came out of his throat.

"He's just a little kid," Urey said, "So there's no way he could've understood all of th-"

"MY MOMMY'S NOT CHEAP!"

Urey jumped a bit. The kid's face was twisted into a pitiful mixture of tears and rage. Before he knew it, the kid screamed and ran up to him and began beating his leg with his tiny fist.

"DON'T CALL MY MOMMY CHEAP! I'LL KNOCK YOU OUT!" The little two-or-three-year-old kicked at him viciously. It almost hurt. There were tears rolling out of his pained young eyes and and his entire body was shaking. He was

"Ed…" Trisha began gently, but then she said sternly, "Edward, control yourself!"

But the little kid kept kicking at the older man. Finally, Trisha swooped down and scooped up the distressed kid in her arms, "Shhh, shhh, it's okay, Ed."

Little Ed was wailing and sobbing uncontrollably, "It's not okay," he hiccupped, "Dad's not," and again, "Coming back…."

"Of course he will, of course he will," Trisha repeated in the three-year-old's ear. "He'll be back."

"Didn't…marry you…so…"

"Shh, Ed," Trisha said one more time, holding the boy's tearful face to her breast. Over his tiny golden head, she looked up at Urey and glared.

"Mr. Rockbell," she said, "If you have nothing else to say, now would be the time to leave."

The look on her face was imperious, commanding. Urey made a noise that might have been a protest, but just turned away

This was the girl without secrets that he could trust anything with and who trusted him with everything. The girl who would always be his friend , who would always accept him.

Or at least, she had been.

Now, she was a mysterious, gentle woman that was whispered about in town.

Now, she was the loving… woman (whore? lover? wife?) to some man he never had met.

Now, she was the daughter of the fallen woman whose house he used to throw rocks at.

Now, she was spoken of as some sort of spirit, a ghost of sorts, part of some immortal family.

Now, she made it clear that there were things that she would not trust him with.

Now, there was something that he knew she would not accept in him.

* * *

Slowly, he walked towards the door of the house. The other child ran in past his feet, apparently trying to see what the commotion is, but Urey barely noticed. He took his hat and coat and walked out the door in a daze.

He was walking, staggering maybe from all of the information he just received, from the emotion of the moment that had just occurred.

He walks forward, and it occurs to him that he hates whatever bastard stole her heart, wore her out, and left her. He imagines killing the man, if he ever gets to see him. Kill him for polluting his friend.

He thinks about the tiredness in Trisha's eyes, about her paleness.

Maybe it serves her right. People pay for their mistakes. God punished women who didn't know how to wait until marriage.

But then did that mean the despicable man got off Scott free? Urey gritted his teeth.

She must be so lonely up there, waiting for a man who had left, taking care of his children…

(He's a ways away by now. He looks back over his shoulder at that house on the hill.)

And she didn't dare show her face to anyone in Resembool, because all of her old friends would condemn her and she knew it. And yet, she had still come back to Resembool. Maybe because she wanted to be home, even if it would never be the same?

(He's halfway home before he knows it. It's drawing close to twilight. The house on the hill was even smaller now.)

And when everyone else heard, then she would be the one little kids threw rocks at. The boys would grow up isolated, fatherless, cut off from other children, unable to make friends…

People would say such unkind things about them. He winced. _He _had said the unkind things. He had equated her with the whores who normally did these things. Urey spent his walk home telling himself that it wasn't his fault, it wasn't his fault, it wasn't his fault… It wasn't Trisha's fault either, no, it couldn't be. He could never blame Trisha for anything…

He stopped. But he had.

The conversation replayed in his mind. He recalled his damaging words, the steel in Trisha's face, him insisting on tearing down a love that he knew nothing about. He had not thought about sparing the gentle, tired woman's feelings, about comforting his friend in her anguish. Had he really been so cruel?

No. He wasn't bad. He wasn't wrong. He was… Everyone said he was the kindest man in Risembool, dammit! But…

Oh God, he had made her son cry. He had made an innocent child cry (yes, innocent! His father's fault wasn't his own) And he hadn't even apologized.

Urey whirled around and before his mind was even working, he was sprinting back to the house on the hill.

* * *

"Trisha! Trisha!" he called out, banging on the door.

She opened the door. To his surprise, her eyes were a little red. "What do you want, Urey?"

"Come home with me tonight. Bring the boys. I'll introduce you to Sara and my daughter."

Trisha's jaw hardened again. "I don't need your charity to a wayward sinner, Urey. I refuse to be forgiven for something I do not recognize as a sin. Now goodb-" she tried to close the door, but was surprised as Urey stuck his foot in it.

"I'm not offering charity, dammit! I'm not forgiving you!"

She looked at him.

"I have nothing to forgive you for. Whatever you or _that man _has done… I don't care. It doesn't fit with my values, or my dad's values, but I don't care. You're my friend Trisha. That's all that that matters. As long as that's true, nothing else matters."

The steel melted from Trisha's face, and all the strain and worry was gone. For a moment, she looked exactly as she used to as an innocent child without a care in the world.

"In fact, I ask _your _forgiveness, for all that I said earlier," he said, adding, "I'm a fool. And I'm sorry."

Her hand on the door had slackened.

"So, Trisha," he asked, trying to smile, "Not out of pity, not out of charity, not because of the beliefs I've had all my life… will you come to my house and have dinner tonight?"

And to the joy of his heart, he saw Trisha's beautiful lips smile.

* * *

She was not the innocent he had known, perhaps.

She had grown into a woman with sorrow and secrets, some of which she might not trust him with.

But she would always be his friend.

* * *

**I hoped you liked this. I have a few more ideas that might be posted as second chapters. I would like to show the relationship between Hohenheim and Trisha, the things she has to deal with when she is left alone, and finally Urey comforting Trisha after she has developed the illness. I even had a strange idea that would involve her character being introduced to Lust.**

**Please review and tell me what you think of this story, and whether or not I should follow up with any of these ideas.**

**The review button is right down there.**


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